Society members across types and sizes responding to a recent benchmarking survey provided insights on their current challenges in working with the board and opportunities to enhance strategic impact and board effectiveness. These insights helped inform a virtual roundtable on this topic and provide Society members with valuable benchmarking information.
Among the key takeaways:
- A majority of corporate secretaries (and others performing corporate secretary responsibilities) represented by respondents (51%) identified time constraints as the top challenge in partnering effectively with their board, followed by managing board dynamics (41%), difficulty influencing strategic decisions (25%), and insufficient resources or support (25%).
- While most corporate secretaries (72%) reported that, based on their perception or experience, the board’s expectations of their role are clear (30% very clear and 42% somewhat clear), others indicated that the board’s expectations are neutral (15%), somewhat unclear (8%), or very unclear (4%).
- Likewise, most corporate secretaries (69%) reported that the board’s expectations of their contributions are clear (24% very clear and 45% somewhat clear), while others find the board’s expectations in this area neutral (11%), somewhat unclear (13%), or very unclear (5%).
- Most corporate secretaries (57%) believe that board succession planning is an area of board oversight that would benefit most from their additional support, followed closely by the board’s assessment of its own performance (55%). Stakeholder engagement (37%), leadership development/CEO succession planning (28%), compliance and ethics (26%), and risk management (26%) were also frequently cited.
- Corporate secretaries most often serve in a partnership role for developing, reviewing, and updating board and committee charters (70%), onboarding new directors (59%), and meeting agenda planning (58%). While board succession planning is regarded as an area of board oversight that would benefit most from additional support from the corporate secretary, only 14% reported currently playing a partnership role in this process.
- A plurality of corporate secretaries (35%) view the development of board materials as their greatest opportunity to increase their impact on board effectiveness, followed by board succession planning (32%) and meeting agenda planning (25%).
- As shown above, the vast majority of corporate secretaries identified strategic advisory skills as most important for themselves and their teams over the next three years to strengthen their partnership with the board, followed by governance expertise, and communication skills. Succession planning capabilities and sustainability reporting and disclosure expertise are deemed less important.